David Ross Sr. ¹³⁵⁰

  General Notes:

The Clan Ross take their surname from the county of Ross, of which our chiefs' forefathers were the earls from about 1226. Their first chief, Ferchar, styled Macc in t' sacarit (' the Son of the Priest '), already held by inheritance the vast district of Applecross in Wester Ross as heir of the O'Beolain hereditary abbots of Applecross.

In 1215, Ferchar ' the Son of the Priest ' brought his numerous warriors to assist the new king, Alexander II, against rival claimants to the throne who were powerful in the North of Scotland. The Chronicle of Melrose records his prowess on this occasion: ' Maccintsacairt attacked them, and mightily overthrew the king's enemies; and he cut off their heads, and presented them as new gifts to the new king; on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of July. And because of this, the lord king appointed him a new knight '. A decade or so later, the same king entrusted him with the whole Earldom of Ross: so called after the ancient British word ros, meaning a moor--or possibly from the Gaelic word ros, a headland, after the huge promontory formed by Easter Ross.

The first five chiefs were Earls of Ross. But on the death of William, Earl of Ross and Lord of Skye, in 1372, the earldom passed to his daughter; while the chiefship devolved on his younger half-brother Hugh Ross, 1st of Balnagown and 6th Chief of Clan Ross, whose inheritance in Easter Ross was so great that by 1632 the Rosses could raise I,000 men. After the death in 1711 of David Ross, I3th of Balnagown, Sheriff of Ross, the chiefship of the clan passed to Malcolm Ross, 5th of Pitcalnie; but the great estate of Balnagown had been burdened with debt and passed to strangers, whose descendants evicted many of the clansmen in the ' progressive ' days of the Clearances. The Rosses of Pitcalnie, however, continued to function of the chiefs of the clan in Ross, and the celebrated Simon, Lord Lovat (beheaded in 1747) wrote to the then Pitcalnie in 1740 as 'My Dear Brother Chieff'. The late 34th chief was ninety-nine-year old Miss Ross of Ross, who lived on the outskirts of the old royal burgh of Tain in Ross. Her appointed heir, David Ross of Ross, the new Chief, belonged to the Shandwick branch of the clan, and is heir male of Macc in t' sacairt who became Earl of Ross seven and a half centuries ago.

The Earls of Ross became the most powerful of the Highland chieftains in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Earldom was one of the most valuable in Scotland and Clan Ross led all other Highland clans in prestige and fighting power.

Our chief, David Ross of Ross and Shandwick, is the 34th hereditary Chief of the Clan, tracing his lineage in an unbroken male line to the first Earl of Ross. David has visited many Clan Ross gatherings in the U.S. His interest, enthusiasm, and support of Clan Ross, USA is welcomed and appreciated by all clansmen and clanswomen.

Source: http://www.cyberramp.net/~nathan/ClanRoss/history.html

  Research Notes:

Descendants of David ROSS - 5 APR 1997
FIRST GENERATION
1. David ROSS died on 13 APR 1710 in Scotland. He was born in Scotland. David was the second Laird of Balblair, Parish of Fern, near the town of Tain, in the shire of Ross, North Scotland. He succeeded to the estate of Balblair at the death of his father, Andrew, 15 Apr 1678.
He was married to Margaret STRONACH on 8 JUL 1681 in Scotland.1 Margaret STRONACH was born in Scotland. She died in Scotland. David ROSS and Margaret STRONACH had the following children:
2 i. Andrew ROSS2 died before 1730 in Scotland. He was born in Parish of Fern, Ross-shire, Scotland. Andrew became third Laird of Balblair in 1710. He married Margaret Gallic before 1710. He was a scrivener and lawyer in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He left an only son Andrew, fourth Laird of Balblair and a surgeon at Kingston, Jamaica, who in 1730 sold the estate of Balblair to John Cruikshank, a London merchant. Andrew died without a male heir and so the title of fifth Laird of Balblair was vested in John Ross, eldest son of Rev. George Ross, of New Castle, DE, as eldest male heir of the House of Balblair.
The Balblair estate was then conveyed in 1732 by John Cruikshank to a family who happened also to be called Ross (but from the Norman name de Roos). William Ross, seventh Laird of Shandwick and a writer in Edinburgh, Scotland, was born in 1694 and died, unmarried, in April 1739. At his death, his brother Hugh inherited the estates of Balblair and Shandwick. Hugh, born about 1695, was a London merchant. A letter written by Hugh in 1764 to John Ross of Philadelphia said "You stand Cadet of the decayed house of Ballamuchy. Balblair of your title was purchased by my brother, as it was part of his house originally. It remains yet. My eldest brother dying a bachelor, you shall find me his heir, as the historiographer of Scotland's deductions show." Hugh died 12 Apr 1775.
+3 ii. Rev. George ROSS.
4 iii. Hugh ROSS was born in Parish of Fern, Ross-shire, Scotland.
5 iv. Elizabeth ROSS was born in Parish of Fern, Ross-shire, Scotland. She married David Munro of Allan and they had a son, David, and a daughter who married Charles McKenzie, who changed his name to Munro upon acquiring his wife's estate.

SOURCES
1. John W. Jordan. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. The Lewis Publishing Co., NY & Chicago, 1911, Vol. II, pg. 1247-1251, 974.8 J82 CL. Ross PA3. 2. Ross PA3.
3. John W. Jordan. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. The Lewis Publishing Co., NY & Chicago, 1911, Vol. II, pg. 1247-1251, 974.8 J82 CL. Ross PA3.
4. 4. American Antiquarian Society. 1936,Vol. 46, pg. 290-312, F028.0305 NL.
5. 5. John W. Jordan. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. The Lewis Publishing Co., NY & Chicago, 1911, Vol. II, pg. 1247-1251, 974.8 J82 CL. Ross PA3.
6. Ibid. Ross PA3.
7. Sketch of Early Ecclesiastical Affairs in New Castle, Delaware, and History of Immanuel Church. FHL film #1320688, Item 5.
8. John W. Jordan. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. The Lewis Publishing Co., NY & Chicago, 1911, Vol. II, pg. 1247-1251, 974.8 J82 CL. Ross PA3.
9. Pennsylvania Vital Records. Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine of History and Biography, 1983, Vol. II and III, 974.8 P415 CL. pg. 542, Ross PA10.
10. Ibid. pg. 542, Ross PA10.
11. Ibid. pg. 542, Ross PA10.
12. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Biographical Sketches of Members of Constitutional Convention 1776. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1880, Vol. IV, 230-231. Ross PA12.
13. Kenneth Scott. National Genealogical Society, Washington, D.C., 1971, pg. 114. pg.
14. H.M.J. Klein and William Diller. The History of St. James Church (Protestant-Episcopal), Lancaster, PA 1744-1944. 1944, pg. 48, 974.8 K64. pg. 48.
15. John W. Jordan. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. The Lewis Publishing Co., NY & Chicago, 1911, Vol. II, pg. 1247-1251, 974.8 J82 CL. Ross PA3.
16. Will Book Q, Vol. 1, page 327 (1832).
17. Marriages and Deaths from Newspapers of Lancaster Co. PA, 1821-1830, 1831-1840, Lancaster Examiner, 974.8 W949.
18. Pennsylvania German Church Records of Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, Etc. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1983, Vol. 1, G929.3478 P3834. pg. 135.
19. Lancaster Historical Society. Papers and Addresses from the 1956 Lancaster Co. Historical Society Journal. 1906-08, Vol. 11-12, 974.8 L244.
20. Marriages and Deaths from Newspapers of Lancaster Co.,. PA 1821-1830 & 1831-1840, Lancaster Journal, 974.8 W949.
21. Pennsylvania German Church Records of Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, Etc. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1983, Vol. 1, G929.3478 P3834. pg. 122.
22. Pennsylvania Archives Third Series. Provincial Papers: Proprietary and Other Tax Lists of the County of Chester for the Years 1774, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1785. published 1897, Vol. 12, pg. 765 and 707. Barefoot, PA6.
23. Photocopy of page from family bible with handwritten notations of birth of children of Dr. Benjamin and Rebecca Ross Barefoot. Ross PA1.
24. Ibid. Ross PA1. ¹³⁵⁹

David married Margaret Stronach on 8 Jul 1681 in Scotland.¹³⁵⁹ (Margaret Stronach was born in 1651 in Scotland ¹³⁵⁹ and died on 30 Apr 1710 in Scotland ¹³⁵⁹.)